Tree House (2021)

I'd say 8 years is a good start, much like Scotch. 12-18 being the sweet spot

 

12-18 yrs is ancient for bourbon. Most of the big budget brands are 2 yrs. Plenty of high-end options at 4-6 yrs. The really good stuff maxes out around 10-12 yrs, with a few notable exceptions.

I could see TH aiming to put out a fine quality bourbon in the 4 year range.

 

12 or younger is the sweet spot, over oaking the profile is a huge problem as you get older.

I am highly skeptical that this will be any good, but I guess I will hope to be surprised.

 

Haha, well I did say they’d be “aiming” to make a nice four year bourbon, not sure if they’ll hit that goal. I mean I honestly can’t think of a single spirit maker that excels at even doing two different types of spirits, let alone beer and spirits. So the odds are clearly against them making a bourbon that’s better than mediocre.

 

Won't begrudge anyone shooting their shot but fair bit of hubris coming out of TH.

 

Dude.

 

I was selfishly pretty bummed that they finally released Super Sap, and it coincided with Father's Day weekend and a JJJuice Machine release. I put in an order Friday morning excited to grab some Super Sap, Bright Nelson, and Free to Roam, forgetting about Father's Day and not noticing the JJJuice Machine release. Luckily, I checked the line updates page before heading out and saw there was an hour+ line for cans and another 45 minute line for pours. I decided to bail on TH and headed out to grab some Sip of Sunshine instead.

Credit to TH for refunding orders not picked up. I hope they release Super Sap again at a time that doesn't also coincide with their busiest day ever (and no, I don't think Super Sap was the cause of the crazy crowds).

 

What?

 

legally it has to be at least 4 years old or have an age statement on the label, basically declaring it's underage. Decent bourbon is probably had in the 5-10 year old range. (Bookers is around 6, Bakers is 7, Knob Creek is 9, etc). Unlike Scotch, Bourbon does not improve indefinitely with age. A lot of whiskey specialists claim benefits of aging really drop off and even reverse after about 15. Some tasty older barrels can still be found but they're rare and hard to find and only the master distller knows where they can be found in a particular warehouse. More likely, they've just become sour, harsh and astringent. Not good. Sorry Pappy, anything more than than 12 is just old and not worth the price.

Nate & Co definitely has the coin....I hope they're following another KY Straight Bourbon rule which says distillate must be aged in new, first use, charred, American white oak barrels. No sloppy seconds.

 

5-12 is actually considered the sweet spot. Bourbon does not age/improve like scotch. Beyond 12 is dicey and after 15, flavors become sour and harsh. The lighter, floral notes get lost.

 

Took a shot with no knowledge and got schooled. Good to know though. I just assumed it would be similar to scotch as they use the same barrels and are whiskey, etc…

TH is for sure going to source their own fresh barrels, age bourbon in them and then age beer in said barrels (probably already happening).

 

Fixed er up for ya.

 

Drinking a Green from 4/20 right now. It's a borderline drain pour. Extremely bitter and malty (looks great though). Yes, I'm aware over 2 months old is beyond the prime drinking window but in the past I've had Green about this old and it wasn't this bad. Was this just a bad batch or does it fall off that much now? For what it's worth, Green has always been a top 5 overall beer for me. I didn't have the 4/20 batch fresh as someone was kind enough to give this one to me recently.

(Update: Been drinking it as I type this and man, it is REALLY harsh.)

 

Once in a while you get a really bad can from them. The last one for me was Daze, where the first can I opened was a legit drain pour, but the others were fine. Although the 6-pack of 12oz Haze I bought have all been terrible and it's pretty disappointing.

Hopefully it's just a bad can and not the whole lot you bought.

 

Emperor Julius

 

Is that code for Monson Julius?

 

this is insane to me.

 

No excuses when a brewery charges premium price and makes you buy at brewery. Every beer should be of highest quality. Have not gone to the new brewery for this exact reason…


Maybe they should worry about quality control before selling or trying to make any new products like spirits.

 

Me too. I gave 4 of them to my sister and I kept 2. I opened one and it was bad but didn't tell her because Haze is her favorite and I didn't want to poop on her parade. She texted me the next day saying that "this new haze in the small cans is really bad". She thinks they changed it and should go back to the old recipe.

 

In manufacturing there's always a small percentage of duds. Can't imagine brewing is any different. I'm curious how they could check something like that on a can by can basis in the middle of a 20,000 can run. I think it's just an unfortunate part of the business? I've had bad cans from almost every brewery that I frequent. They're rare but they happen.